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The Invincible M.A.E.

JS & Petr Contract Spam

September 11th, 2003

Current Mood:

uncomfortable

Wednesday, September 10th Teleconference

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Goaltender Jean-Sebastien GiguereI am very happy to get this (contract negotiations) finally over with. I did not want to miss any part of training camp. It is very important for me to have a good training camp and have a good start to the season. Last season we struggled during the beginning of the season and it is important for us to start very strong. And I feel like training camp is a very big part of your preparation.

There was pressure on both sides knowing that training camp was coming up. Both sides wanted me in camp.

I was a little concerned (reporting to training camp on time), but at the same time I was confident we could get a deal done, these things sometimes take a long time. I was really happy with the way my agent worked and the way the team operated. I am very happy with my contract and am excited to get the thing done.

I am excited about being here and I am excited about the team.

On next season’s expectationsI am expecting myself to work hard everyday, and I will make mistakes every day. This is a game of mistakes and nobody is perfect. I will continue to make mistakes, but I will expect myself to work hard and keep learning (from them). I am young, only 26 years old, and there is lots of room for me to get better.

We should expect to give our best every day, and if we do that, we should be a good team. Our focus is to be in the playoffs and go from there. Our goal is to be competitive every game. We should be a very strong team right off the bat; we should be competitive from game one.

On his teammate’s reactionsWe all get in the same boat at some point where we have to negotiate a deal, and we are faced with that situation…saying that I was worried about (upsetting) my teammates and the organization, but mostly the fans and my family, I didn’t want to disappoint anybody.

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Senior Vice President and General Manager Bryan MurrayObviously we’re happy with these events. (Jean-Sebastien Giguere) took the initiative to be here the first day (of training camp) and made the commitment to us. We negotiated during the day yesterday and we were able to get both parties satisfied with the contract.

We knew he would ask for a fairly large increase. It has been the consistent history of the league, so we took a look at what he had done. He had a decent regular season and a fantastic playoffs. We studied what he had done game-by-game and knew the cost was going to go up. The original asking price was significantly higher, but we offered a fair contract and he’ll be here for the opening of training camp.

We had discussions over the importance of having him here. Looking at other goalies that have missed time generally had tough years. This was a focal point.

On the Petr Sykora Negotiations I thought he would be the first one done of the two. We have talked to them a couple of times, but nothing is happening. We have not received any indications that he will be at the dinner tonight. We will wait until tomorrow to find out if he accepts what we offered a day ago.

Petr probably will not be on the ice tomorrow. Players compare themselves to each other and those comparisons are used by the agents. Giguere had tied himself to a couple of people and so has Petr. I don’t expect to hear anything today because Rich (Winter, Sykora’s agent) is traveling. In terms of dollars we’re close, but their concern is time. It shouldn’t take much longer and hopefully they’ll accept our offer.

Question of Giguere’s characterWhat has always impressed me about Jiggy is his character and how technical he is. His day-to-day work ethic is great. He’s a guy who is stable and consistent and will only get better. The type of recognition he received last season was tremendous and it was the first time in the two years he was around that.

(Anaheim head coach) Mike Babcock had talked to (Giguere) and knew he was working hard. Jiggy had communication with Francois (Allaire, Mighty Ducks’ goaltending consultant) every day. We need structure in the organization and we let them know on a daily basis we wanted him here. He is a good listener and a really good person. Is he going to have bad games? Yes. But is he going to consistently mediocre? I don’t think so.

Getting Giguere signed in regards to the other off-season moves.I think it was very important to get him here with all the things we’ve done. Not to have Jiggy in camp would’ve been very disappointing, with the signing Sergei (Fedorov) and (Vinny) Prospal. We tried really hard and talked an awful lot to find a solution in time. Fortunately it worked out. Hopefully, Petr will sign in a day or two and we’ll have a full camp.

How does Giguere’s signing affect the Duck’s budget?This fits our budget almost perfectly. We had slotted a certain amount of dollars for JS and we guessed about right. We knew what we were getting in Jiggy and there is a limit to your budget, but some flexibility with the right guy.

Concerns on not being able to sign GiguereA couple of days ago, I had some real concerns. We were at the point we all were getting very concerned that it wouldn’t happen. Both parties made efforts to make a good deal. The way he emerged as a person and as a leader helped us show what type of a person he is. He was a guy who spoke up and said the team had to get going and went out and did it.